The Via Matris - The Way of the Blessed Mother

The Via Matris - The Way of the Blessed Mother

I. The Prophecy of Simeon

How great was the shock to Mary's heart at hearing the sorrowful words, in which holy Simeon told the bitter Passion and death of her sweet Jesus, since in that same moment she realized in her mind all the insults, blows, and torments which the impious men were to offer to the Redeemer of the world.

But a still sharper sword pierced her soul. It was the thought of men's ingratitude to her beloved Son. Now consider that, because of your sins, you are unhappily among the ungrateful, and casting yourself at the feet of the Mother of Dolors, say with sorrow:

    Virgin beloved, who did feel so bitter pangs of soul at seeing the abuse which I, wretch that I am, would make of the Blood of your dear Son, obtain for me, I pray you, by your riven heart, that in time to come, I may better correspond to God's mercies, profit by his heavenly grace, receive not in vain his lights and inspirations, and so be among the blessed number of those who are saved by the bitter passion of Jesus. Amen.

Hail Mary. 
Virgin Most Sorrowful, pray for us.

Prayers and Meditations to Our Lady of Sorrows for each Day of the Week

Prayers and Meditations 

to Our Lady of Sorrows for each Day of the Week

MONDAY

V. O God, come to my assistance.

R. O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be ...

The First Sorrow of Mary

St. Simeon’s  Prophecy

In the Temple, St. Simeon had received the Divine Child in his arms and predicted that this Child would be a sign (of God) which shall be contradicted by men. “Behold this Child is set … for a sign which shall be contradicted. And Thy own soul a sword shall pierce.” (Lk. 2:34-35).

Verse: My Mother! share Thy grief with me, and let me bear Thee company to mourn Thy Jesus’ death with Thee.

Meditation

The Blessed Virgin told St. Matilda that when St. Simeon pronounced these words “all Her joy was changed into sorrow.” For, as was revealed to St. Teresa, although the Blessed Mother already knew that the life of Her Son would be sacrificed for the salvation of the world, She then learned more distinctly and in greater detail what sufferings and what a cruel death awaited Him. She knew that He would be persecuted and opposed in every way. He would be opposed in His teaching: instead of being believed, He would be called a blasphemer for claiming to be the Son of God. The reprobate Caiphas was to say: “He hath blasphemed … He is guilty of death” (Mt. 26:65-66). He would be opposed in His reputation: for though He was of noble, even of royal descent, He was despised as a peasant: “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Mt. 13:55). “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?” (Mk. 6:3). He was Wisdom itself, and was treated as ignorant: “How doth this man know letters, having never learned?” (Jn. 7:15). As a false prophet: “And they blindfolded Him, and smote His face … saying: Prophesy, who is it that struck Thee?” (Lk. 22:64). He was treated as a madman: “He is mad, why hear you Him?” (Jn. 10:20). As a drunkard, a glutton, and a friend of sinners: “Behold a man that is a glutton, and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners” (Lk. 7:34). As a sorcerer: “By the prince of devils He casteth out devils” (Mt. 9:34). As a heretic and one possessed by the evil spirit: “Do not we say well that Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” (Jn. 8:48). In short, Jesus was considered so notoriously wicked that, as the Jews said to Pilate, no trial was necessary to condemn Him. “If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up to thee” (Jn. 18:30).

One Our Father … Seven Hail Marys ...

Visit to Our Lady after the Stations

Visit to Our Lady after the Stations

O most holy Mother, Queen of Sorrows, who didst follow thy beloved Son through all the way of the cross, and whose heart was pierced with a fresh sword of grief at all the stations of that most sorrowful journey; obtain for us, we beseech thee, O most loving Mother, a perpetual remembrance of our blessed Saviour's cross and death, and a true and tender devotion to all the mysteries of His most holy passion; obtain for us the grace to hate sin, even as He hated it in the agony in the garden; to endure wrong and insult with all patience, as He endured them in the judgment hall; to be meek and humble in all our trials, as He was before His judges; to love our enemies even as He loved His murderers, and prayed for them upon the cross; and to glorify God and do good to our neighbors, even as He did in every mystery of His sufferings. O Queen of Martyrs, who, by the dolours of thy Immaculate Heart on Calvary, didst merit to share the passion of our Blessed Redeemer, obtain for us some portion of the compassion, that for the love of Jesus crucified we may be crucified to the world in this life; and in the life to come, may, by His infinite merits and thy powerful intercession, reign with Him in glory everlasting.

Image Credit Waiting for the Word

O Most Glorious Passion and Cure for all Our Wounds

 O Most Glorious Passion and Cure for all Our Wounds

O most glorious passion and cure for all our wounds. O mother most faithful, who lead your children to the heavenly Father. O true and gentle refuge in all adversities. O supportive nurse who guide child-like minds to the heights of perfection. O refulgent mirror, who illumine those who look at you and recognize their deformities. O impenetrable shield who most smartly defend those who hide behind you. O manna suffused with every fulsome sweetness, you are the one who guards those who love you from every deadly poison. O ladder most high who raise up to infinite goods those who fly upward upon you. O true and restorative hospice for pilgrim souls. O ever flowing font who provide drink for the thirsty who are inflamed for you. O abundant sea for those who row on you in their derelict boat. O sweet olive tree who stretch your branches through all the universe. O spouse, gentle to the soul which is always in love with you and does not look toward others.

And so exercise yourselves untiringly in this, dearest and kindest sisters and gaze upon yourselves in his radiant splendor so that, in this way, you can conserve the beauty of your souls. Truly this passion is that wise mistress who will lead you, beloved novices, to the beauty of all the virtues, and in this way, you will attain the mantle of victory. To the praise of Christ. Amen.

taken from the Seven Spiritual Weapons by Saint Catherine of Bologna

Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons

Solemn Act of Consecration to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary

Solemn Act of Consecration 
to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary

O  Lord Jesus, Who on Calvary and in the Holy Eucharist hast shown Thyself to us as God of Love and Mercy, kneeling humbly at Thy feet we adore Thee and beg once more for Thy forgiveness and Thy divine pity.  And remembering that by Thine own act on Calvary, the human race, represented by Thy beloved disciple John, gained a Mother in the Virgin of Sorrows, we desire to honour the sufferings and woes of our Mother's Heart by devoting ourselves to it in solemn Consecration.    

It is but just O Mary, that our souls should strive henceforth to venerate thee with special homage under the title of Thy Sorrowful Heart, a title won by sharing in the whole Passion of thy Son and thus co-operating in the work of our redemption - a title due to thee in justice, and dear, we believe, to Jesus and to thine own Heart, torn by the wound in His.

    

We consecrate therefore, O Mary, to they Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart ourselves, our families, our country and those who are fighting for its honour.  Have pity on us; see our tribulations, and the anguish of our hearts in the midst of the mourning and calamities that lay waste the world.  Deign, O Mother of God, to obtain mercy for us that, being  converted and purified by sorrow, and made strong in faith, we may henceforth be devoted servants of Jesus Christ and His Church, for whose triumph we pray.  O Mary Immaculate, we promise to be faithful clients of they Sorrowful Heart.  Intercede for us, we beseech thee, with thy Son that, at the cry of thy Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, His divine Power may speedily bring to pass the triumph of right and justice.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have pity on us. 

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us and save us.

by Berthe Petit 

Image Credit Waiting for the Word

Litany of the Sorrowful Mother

Lord, have mercy on us. 
Christ, have mercy on us. 
Lord, have mercy on us. 
Christ, hear us. 
Christ, graciously hear us. 

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us. 
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us. 
God the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us. 
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, conceived without sin, Pray for us. 
Holy Mother of God, Pray for us. 

Mother of Christ, Pray for us
Mother of Our Saviour Crucified, Pray for us
Mother most Sorrowful, Pray for us
Mother most tearful, Pray for us
Mother most afflicted, Pray for us
Mother most lonely, Pray for us
Mother most desolate, Pray for us
Mother pierced by the sword of sorrow, Pray for us
Queen of Martyrs, Pray for us
Comfort of the sorrowful, Pray for us
Help of the needy, Pray for us
Protectress of the forsaken, Pray for us
Support of widows and orphans, Pray for us
Health of the sick, Pray for us
Hope of the troubled, Pray for us
Haven of the ship-wrecked, Pray for us
Refuge of sinners, Pray for us
Hope of the despairing, Pray for us
Mother of mercy, Pray for us

R./ Pray for us

Through thy poverty in the stable of Bethlehem, 
Through thy sorrow at the prophecy of Simeon, 
Through thy sad flight into Egypt, 
Through thy anxiety when seeking thy lost Child, 
Through thy grief when seeing thy Divine Son persecuted, 
Through thy fear and anxiety when Jesus was apprehended, 
Through thy pain caused by the treason of Judas and the denial of Peter, 
Through thy sad meeting with Jesus on the way of the Cross, 
Through the tortures of thy loving Heart at the Crucifixion of Jesus, 
Through thy agony at the death of Jesus, 
Through the sword of sorrow that pierced thy heart when the side of Jesus was transfixed by the lance, 
Through thy lamentations over the dead Body of thy Divine Son lying on thy bosom, 
Through thy deep mourning at His tomb, 
Through thy desolation after the burial of Jesus, 
Through the tears thou didst shed for thy beloved Son, 
Through thy wonderful resignation to the will of God in all thy sufferings, 

O Queen of peace, Pray for us
In all our tribulations, Pray for us
In our illnesses and pains, Pray for us
In our sorrows and afflictions, Pray for us
In our need and destitution, Pray for us
In our fears and dangers, Pray for us
In the hour of our death, Pray for us
On the Day of Judgment, Pray for us

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord. 
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord. 
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us, O Lord. 

V. Pray for us, O Sorrowful Virgin, 
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 

Let Us Pray
We beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, let Thy Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow at the hour of Thy passion, implore Thy mercy for us, both now and at the hour of our death, Who livest and reignest, world without end. R. Amen. 

Litany of the Seven Sorrows

Lord, have mercy on us. 
Christ, have mercy on us. 
Lord, have mercy on us. 
Christ, hear us. 
Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us. 
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us. 
God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us. 
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Pray for us. 
Holy Mother of God, Pray for us. 

Holy Virgin of virgins, Pray for us.
Mother crucified, Pray for us.
Mother sorrowful, Pray for us.
Mother tearful, Pray for us.
Mother afflicted, Pray for us.
Mother forsaken, Pray for us.
Mother desolate, Pray for us.
Mother bereft of thy Child, Pray for us.
Mother transfixed with the sword, Pray for us.
Mother consumed with grief, Pray for us.
Mother filled with anguish, Pray for us.
Mother crucified in heart, Pray for us.
Mother most sad, Pray for us.
Fountain of tears, Pray for us.
Abyss of suffering, Pray for us.
Mirror of patience, Pray for us.
Rock of constancy, Pray for us.
Anchor of confidence, Pray for us.
Refuge of the forsaken, Pray for us.
Shield of the oppressed, Pray for us.
Subduer of the unbelieving, Pray for us.
Comfort of the afflicted, Pray for us.
Medicine of the sick, Pray for us.
Strength of the weak, Pray for us.
Harbor of the wrecked, Pray for us.
Allayer of tempests, Pray for us.
Resource of mourners, Pray for us.
Terror of the treacherous, Pray for us.
Treasure of the faithful, Pray for us.
Eye of the Prophets, Pray for us.
Staff of the Apostles, Pray for us.
Crown of Martyrs, Pray for us.
Light of confessors, Pray for us.
Pearl of virgins, Pray for us.

Consolation of widows, Joy of all Saints, Pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord. 
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord. 
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

Look down upon us, deliver us, and save us from all trouble, in the power of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let Us Pray.
Imprint, O Lady, thy wounds upon my heart, that I may read therein sorrow and love -
sorrow to endure every sorrow for thee, love to despise every love for thee. Amen.

Conclude with the Apostles Creed, Hail Holy Queen, and three Hail Marys, 
in honor of the Most Holy Heart of Mary. 

Quotes on the Dolors of Mary

"Teach Souls to Love The Heart of My Mother

Pierced by The Very Sorrows Which Pierced Mine."

(Our Lord to Berthe Petit, at Midnight Mass Dec. 25, 1909) 

'Her grief was immeasurably increased when she became the Mother of this Saviour; so that at the sad sight of the many torments which were to be endured by her poor Son, she indeed suffered a long martyrdom, a martyrdom which lasted her whole life. This was signified with great exactitude to Saint Bridget in a vision which she had in Rome, in the church of Saint Mary Major, where the Blessed Virgin with Saint Simeon, and an angel bearing a very long sword, reddened with blood, appeared to her, denoting thereby the long, and bitter grief which transpierced the heart of Mary during her whole life.' -St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Weeping she hath wept in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: there is none to comfort her among all them that were dear to her: all her friends have despised her, and are become her enemies. - Lam 1:2

'If you want to assist at Mass with devotion and with fruit, think of the sorrowful Mother at the feet of Calvary.' - St. Padre Pio

'Lean on the Cross of Jesus as the Virgin did and you will not be deprived of comfort. Mary was as if paralyzed before her crucified Son, but one cannot say that she was abandoned by Him. Rather, how much more did she love Him when she suffered and could not even weep?' -  St. Padre Pio

'Let us firmly trust that, through the infinite merits of Christ's Passion and the dolors of Mary, we shall forever sing the mercies of the Most High.' - St. Paul of the Cross

"Let us bind ourselves tightly to the Sorrowful Heart of our Heavenly Mother and reflect on it's boundless grief and how precious is our soul." - Saint Padre Pio

"The time is now ripe.  I wish mankind to turn to The Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of My Mother.  Let this prayer be uttered by every soul....  Let this prayer dictated by My Love as a supreme succor be approved and indulgenced, no longer partially and for a small portion of My flock, but for the whole universe, so that it may spread as a refreshing and purifying balm of reparation that will appease My anger." - Our Lord to Berthe Petit (1870-1943)

"At the cross her station keeping,

Stood the mournful mother weeping,

Close to Jesus to the last.

Through her heart, his sorrow sharing,

All his bitter anguish bearing,

Now at length the sword has passed."

- Stabat Mater

To what shall I compare thee? Or to what shall I liken thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what shall I equal thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter Sion? - Lamentations 2:13

'Mary suffered hers in her soul, as Saint Simeon foretold: "And my own soul a sword shall pierce." As if the holy old man had said: "O most sacred Virgin, the bodies of other martyrs will be torn with iron, but thou wilt be transfixed, and martyred in thy soul by the Passion of thine own Son." Now, as the soul is more noble than the body, so much greater were Mary's sufferings than those of all the martyrs, as Jesus Christ Himself said to Saint Catherine of Siena: 

"Between the sufferings of the soul and those of the body there is no comparisons." Whence the holy Abbot Arnold of Chartres says, "that whoever had been present on Mount Calvary, to witness the great sacrifice of the Immaculate Lamb, would there have beheld two great altars, the one in the body of Jesus, the other in the heart of Mary; for, on that mount, at the same time that the Son sacrificed His body by death, Mary sacrificed her soul by compassion."' - St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Prayer for a Happy Death

Prayer for a Happy Death

O Mother of Sorrows, by the anguish and love with which thou didst stand beside the Cross of Jesus, stand by me in my last agony. To thy maternal heart I commend the three last hours of my life. Offer these hours to the Eternal Father in union with the agony of our dearest Lord. Offer frequently to the Eternal Father, in atonement for my sins, the Precious Blood of Jesus, mingled with thy tears on Calvary, to obtain for me the grace to receive Holy Communion with most perfect love and contrition before my death, and to breathe forth my soul in the actual presence of Jesus.

Dearest Mother, when the moment of my death has come, present me as thy child to Jesus; say to Him in my behalf: "Son, forgive him, for he knew not what he did. Receive him this day into Thy kingdom." 

Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons

The Dolors of Mary

The Dolors of Mary

Click Below for Meditations

St.Simeon's Prophecy
The Flight into Egypt
The Loss of Jesus in the Temple
Meeting of Mary and Jesus on the Way toCalvary
The Death of Jesus on the Cross
The Piercing of the Side of Jesus and theDeposition from the Cross
The Burial of Jesus

by St. Alphonsus Liguori

taken from the Victories of the Martyrs

The Burial of Jesus

The Burial of Jesus

When a mother is by the side of her suffering and dying child, she undoubtedly feels and suffers all his pains; but after he is actually dead, when, before the body is carried to the grave, the afflicted mother must bid her child a last farewell; then, indeed, the thought that she is to see him no more is a grief that exceeds all other griefs. Behold the last sword of Mary's sorrow, which we have now to consider; for after witnessing the death of her Son on the Cross, and embracing for a last time His lifeless body, this blessed Mother had to leave Him in the sepulchre. never more to enjoy His beloved presence on earth. 

That we may better understand this last dolor, we will return to Calvary and consider the afflicted Mother, who still holds the lifeless body of her Son clasped in her arms. O my Son, she seemed to say in the words of Job, my Son, Thou art changed to be cruel towards me. [Job, xxx. 21] Yes, for all Thy noble qualities, Thy beauty, grace, and virtues, Thy engaging manners, all the marks of special love which Thou hast bestowed upon me, the peculiar favors Thou hast granted me,---all are now changed into grief, and as so many arrows pierce my heart, and the more they have excited me to love Thee, so much, the more cruelly do they now make me feel Thy loss. Ah, my own beloved Son, in losing Thee I have lost all. Thus does St. Bernard speak in her name: "O truly-begotten of God. Thou wast to me a father, a son, a spouse: Thou wast my very soul! Now I am deprived of my father, widowed of my spouse, a desolate. childless Mother; having lost my only Son, I have lost all."

Thus was Mary, with her Son locked in her arms, absorbed in grief. The holy disciples, fearful that the poor Mother might die of grief, approached her to take the body of her Son from her arms to bear it away for burial. This they did with gentle and respectable violence, and having embalmed it, they wrapped it in a linen cloth which was already prepared. On this cloth, which is still preserved at Turin, our Lord was pleased to leave to the world an impression of his sacred body. 

The disciples then bore him to the tomb. To do this, they first of all raised the sacred body on their shoulders, and then the mournful train set forth; choirs of angels from heaven accompanied it; the holy women followed, and with them the afflicted Mother also followed her Son to the place of burial. When they had reached the appointed place, so how willingly would Mary have there buried herself alive with her Son had such been his will r' for this she herself revealed to St. Bridget.' But such not being the divine will, there are many authors who say that she accompanied the sacred body of Jesus into the sepulchre, where, according to Baronius,' the disciples also deposited the nails and the crown of thorns. In raising the stone to close up the entrance, the holy disciples of the Saviour had to approach our Blessed Lady, and say: Now, O Lady, we must close the sepulchre: forgive us, look once more at thy Son, and bid him a last farewell. Then my beloved Son (for thus must the afflicted Mother have spoken); then I shall see Thee no more ? Receive, therefore, On this last occasion that I behold Thee, receive my last farewell, the farewell of thy dear Mother, and receive also my heart, which I leave buried with Thee, "The Blessed Virgin," writes St. Fulgentius, "would ardently have desired to bury her soul with the body of Christ." . And this Mary herself revealed to St. Bridget, saying: " I can truly say that at the burial of my Son one tomb contained as it were two hearts,"" 

Finally, the disciples raised the stone and closed up the holy sepulchre, and in it the body of Jesus, that great treasure---a treasure so great that neither earth nor Heaven had a greater. Here I may be permitted to make a short digression, and remark that Mary's heart was buried with Jesus, because Jesus was her whole treasure: Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. [Luke xii. 34] And where, may we ask, are our hearts buried? In creatures---perchance in mire. And why not in Jesus, Who, although He has ascended to Heaven, is still pleased to remain on earth, not dead indeed, but living in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar, precisely that our hearts may be with Him, and that He may possess them? 

But let us return to Mary. Before leaving the sepulchre, according to St. Bonaventure, she blessed the sacred stone which closed it, saying: "O happy stone, that doth now enclose that sacred body, which for nine months was contained in my womb; I bless thee and envy thee; I leave thee the guardian of my Son, of that Son Who is my whole treasure and all my love." Then, raising her heart to the Eternal Father, she said, "O Father, to Thee do I recommend Him---Him Who is thy Son at the same time that He is mine." Thus bidding her last farewell to her beloved Jesus and to the sepulchre, she left it, and returned to her own house. "This Mother," says St. Bernard, "went away so afflicted and sad, that she moved many to tears in spite of themselves; and wherever she passed, all who met her wept," and could not restrain their tears. And he adds that the holy disciples and women who accompanied her "mourned even more for her than for their Lord." 

St. Bonaventure says that her sisters covered her with a mourning cloak: "The sisters of our Lady veiled her as a widow, almost covering her whole face." He also says that, passing, on her return before the Cross still wet with the Blood of her Jesus, she was the first to adore it. "O holy Cross," she then said, " I kiss thee, I adore thee; for thou art no longer an infamous gibbet, but a throne of love and an altar of mercy, consecrated by the Blood of the Divine Lamb, which on thee has been sacrificed for the salvation of the world." 

She then left the Cross, and returned home. When there, the afflicted Mother cast her eyes around, and no longer saw her Jesus; but, instead of the sweet presence of her dear Son, the remembrance of His beautiful life and cruel death presented itself before her eyes. She remembered how she had pressed that Son to her bosom in the crib of Bethlehem; the conversation she had held with Him during the many years They had dwelt in the house of Nazareth; she remembered Their mutual affection, Their loving looks, the words of eternal life which fell from those Divine lips; and then the sad scene which she had that day witnessed again presented itself before her. The nails, the thorns, the lacerated flesh of her Son, those deep wounds, those uncovered bones, that open mouth, those dimmed eyes, all presented themselves before her. Ah, what a night of sorrow was that night for Mary! The afflicted Mother, turning to St. John, mournfully said: "Ah John, tell me where is thy Master?" She then asked the Magdalene: "Daughter, tell me, where is thy beloved? O God, Who has taken Him from us?" Mary wept, and all who were present wept with her. 

And thou, my soul, weepest not! Ah, turn to Mary, and address her with St. Bonaventure, saying: "O my own sweet Lady, let me weep; thou art innocent, I am guilty." Entreat her at least to let thee weep with her: "Grant that with thee I may weep." She weeps for love; do thou weep through sorrow for thy sins. Thus weeping thou mayest have the happy lot of him of whom we read in the following example. 

EXAMPLE

Father Engelgrave relates that a certain religious was so tormented with scruples, that he was sometimes almost driven to despair; but as he had the greatest devotion to Mary of Sorrows, he always had recourse to her in his interior agonies, and felt himself consoled whilst meditating on her dolors. Death came, and the devil then tormented him more than ever with scruples, and tempted him to despair. When, behold, the compassionate Mother seeing her poor son in such anguish, appeared to him, saying: "And thou, my son, why art thou so overcome with sorrow? Why fearest thou so much? Thou who hast so often consoled me by pitying me in my sorrows. But now," she added, "Jesus sends me to console thee; be comforted, then; rejoice, and come with me to Heaven." On hearing these consoling words, the devout religious, filled with joy and confidence, tranquilly expired. 

Prayer

My afflicted Mother, I will not leave thee alone to weep; no, I will accompany thee with my tears. This grace I now ask of thee: obtain that I may always bear in mind and always have a tender devotion towards the Passion of Jesus and thy sorrows, that the remainder of my days may thus be spent in weeping over thy sufferings, my own sweet Mother, and those of my Redeemer. These sorrows, I trust, will give me the confidence and strength that I shall require at the hour of death, that I may not despair at the sight of the many sins by which I have offended my Lord. They must obtain me pardon, perseverance, and Heaven, where I hope to rejoice with thee, and to sing the infinite mercies of my God for all eternity. Thus do I hope; thus may it be. Amen. Amen.

By Saint Alphonsus de Liguori
Photo Credti Waiting for the Word

The Piercing of the Side of Jesus and the Deposition from the Cross

The Piercing of the Side of Jesus and the Deposition from the Cross

O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow. [Lam. i. 12] Devout souls, listen to what the sorrowful Mary says this day: "My beloved children, I do not wish you to console me; no, for my soul is no longer susceptible of consolation in this world after the death of my dear Jesus. If you wish to please me, this is what I ask of you; behold me, and see if there ever has been in the world a grief like mine, in seeing Him who was all my love torn from me with such cruelty." But, my sovereign Lady, since thou wilt not be consoled, and hast so great a thirst for sufferings, I must tell thee that, even with the death of thy Son, thy sorrows have not ended. On this day thou wilt be wounded by another sword of sorrow, a cruel lance will pierce the side of thy Son already dead, and thou hast to receive Him in thine arms after He is taken down from the Cross. 

Now we are to consider the sixth dolor which afflicted this poor Mother. Attend and weep. Hitherto the dolors of Mary tortured her one by one; on this day they are all, as it were, united to assail her. 

It is enough to tell a mother that her son is dead, to excite all her love towards her lost child. Some persons, that they may lessen a mother's grief, remind her of the displeasure at the time caused by her departed child. But I, my Queen, did I thus wish to lighten thy grief for the death of Jesus, for what displeasure that He ever caused thee could I remind thee? No, indeed. He always loved thee, always obeyed thee, and always respected thee. Now thou hast lost Him, who can ever tell thy grief? Do thou explain it, thou who hast experienced it. 

A devout author says, that when our beloved Redeemer was dead, the first care of the great Mother was to accompany in spirit the most holy soul of her Son, and present it to the eternal Father. "I present Thee, O my God," Mary must then have said, "the Immaculate soul of Thine and my Son; He has now obeyed Thee unto death; do Thou, then, receive it in Thine arms. Thy justice is now satisfied, Thy will is accomplished; behold, the great sacrifice to Thy eternal glory is consummated." Then, turning towards the lifeless members of her Jesus, "O wounds," she said, "O wounds of love, I adore you, and in you do I rejoice; for by your means salvation is given to the world. You will remain open in the body of my Son, and be the refuge of those who have recourse to you. O, how many, through you, will receive the pardon of their sins, and by you be inflamed with love for the supreme good!"

That the joy of the following Paschal Sabbath might not be disturbed, the Jews desired that the body of Jesus should be taken down from the Cross; but as this could not be done unless the criminals were dead, men came with iron bars to break our Lord's legs, as they had already done those of the two thieves who were crucified with Him. Mary was still weeping over the death of her Son, when she saw these armed men advancing towards her Jesus. At this sight she first trembled with fear, and then exclaimed: "Ah, my Son is already dead; cease to outrage Him; torment me no more, who am His poor Mother." She implored them, writes St. Bonaventure, "not to break His legs." But while she thus spoke, O God! she saw a soldier brandish a lance, and pierce the side of Jesus: One of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out Blood came out Blood and water. [John, xix. 34] At the stroke of the spear the Cross shook, and, as it was afterwards revealed to St. Bridget, the heart of Jesus was divided into two,---there came out Blood and water; for only those few drops of Blood remained, and even those our Saviour was pleased to shed, that we might understand that He had no more Blood to give us. The injury of that stroke was inflicted on Jesus, but Mary suffered its pain. "Christ," says the devout Lanspergius, "shared this wound with His Mother; He received the insult, His Mother endured its agony." 

The holy Fathers maintain that this was literally the sword foretold to the Blessed Virgin by St. Simeon: a sword, not a material one, but one of grief, which transpierced her blessed soul in the heart of Jesus, where it always dwelt. Thus, amongst others, St. Bernard says: "The lance which opened His side passed through the soul of the Blessed Virgin, which could never leave her Son's heart." The Divine Mother herself revealed the same thing to St. Bridget: "When the spear was drawn out, the point appeared red with Blood: then, seeing the heart of my most dear Son pierced, it seemed to me as if my own heart was also pierced." An Angel told the same Saint, "that such were the sufferings of Mary, that it was only by a miraculous interposition on the part of God that she did not die."  In her other dolors she at least had her Son to compassionate her; but now she has not even Him to pity her. 

The afflicted Mother, fearing that other injuries might still be inflicted on her Son, entreated Joseph of Arimathea to obtain the body of her Jesus from Pilate, that at least in death she might guard and protect it from further outrage. Joseph went, and represented to Pilate the grief and desires of this afflicted Mother. St. Anselm  believes that compassion for the Mother softened the heart of Pilate, and moved him to grant her the body of the Saviour. 

Jesus then was taken down from the Cross. O most sacred Virgin, after thou hast given thy Son to the world, with so great love, for our salvation, behold the world now restores Him to thee; but, O God, in what state dost Thou receive Him? O world, said Mary, how dost thou return Him to me? My Son was white and ruddy; [Cant. v. 10] but thou returnest Him to me blackened with bruises, and red---yes! but with the wound which thou hast inflicted upon Him. He was all fair and beautiful; but now there is no more beauty in Him; He is all disfigured. His aspect enamoured all: now He excites horror in all who behold Him. "Oh, how many swords," says St. Bonaventure, "pierced the poor Mother's soul" when she received the body of her Son from the Cross! Let us only consider the anguish it would cause any mother to receive into her arms the body of her lifeless son. 

It was revealed to St. Bridget, that three ladders were placed against the Cross to take down the sacred body; the holy disciples first drew out the nails from the hands and feet, and, according to Metaphrastes, gave them to Mary. Then one supported the upper part of the body of Jesus, and the other the lower, and thus they took it from the Cross. Bernardine de Bustis describes the afflicted Mother as standing, and extending her arms to meet her dear Son; she embraced Him, and then sat at the foot of the Cross. His mouth was open, His eyes were dim; she then examined His mangled flesh and uncovered bones; she took off the crown, and saw the sad injuries which the thorns had inflicted on that sacred head; she saw the holes in His hands and feet, and thus addressed Him: "Ah, Son, to what has Thy love for men brought Thee; and what evil hadst Thou done them, that they should thus cruelly have tormented Thee? Thou wast my father" (continues Bernardine de Bustis, in Mary's name), "Thou wast my brother, my spouse, my delight, my glory; Thou wast my all!" My Son, see my affliction, look at me, console me; but no, Thou no longer lookest at me. Speak, say but a word, and console me; but Thou speakest no more, for Thou art dead. Then, turning to those barbarous instruments of torture, she said, O cruel thorns, O cruel nails, O merciless spear, how, how could you thus torture your Creator? But why do I speak of thorns or nails? Alas! sinners, she exclaimed, it is you who have thus cruelly treated my Son. 

Thus did Mary speak and complain of us. But what would she now say, were she still susceptible of suffering? What would be her grief to see that men, not withstanding that her Son has died for them, still continue to torment and crucify Him by their sins! Let us, at least, cease to torment this afflicted Mother; and if we have hitherto grieved her by our sins, let us now do all that she desires. She says, Return, ye transgressors, to the heart. [ls. xlvi. 8] Sinners, return to the wounded heart of my Jesus; return as penitents, and He will welcome you. "Flee from Him to Him," she continues to say with the Abbot Guerric; "from the Judge to the Redeemer, from the tribunal to the Cross." Our Blessed Lady herself revealed to St. Bridget, that "she closed the eyes of her Son, when He was taken down from the Cross, but she could not close His arms;" Jesus Christ giving us thereby to understand that He desired to remain with His arms extended to receive all penitent sinners who return to Him. "O world," continues Mary, behold, then, thy time is the time of lovers. [Ezek. xvi. 8] "Now that my Son has died to save thee, it is no longer for thee a time of fear, but one of love---a time to love Him, Who to show thee the love He bore thee Was pleased to suffer so much." "The Heart of Jesus," says St. Bernard, "was wounded that, through the visible wound, the invisible wound of love might be seen." "If, then," concludes Mary, in the words of Blessed Raymond Jordano, "my Son by excess of love was pleased that His side should be opened, that He might give thee His Heart, it is right, O man, that thou in return shouldst also give Him thine." And if you desire, O children of Mary, to find a place in the heart of Jesus, without fear of being rejected, "go," says Ubertino da Casale, "go with Mary, for she will obtain the grace for you." 

EXAMPLE

In the city of Cesena there lived two sinners who were great friends. One of them, whose name was Bartholomew, in the midst of his wickedness preserved the devotion of daily reciting the hymn "Stabat Mater" in honor of Mary in Sorrow. He was one day reciting this hymn [see Seven Sorrows Devotion link at the bottom of the page], when he had a vision, in which he seemed to stand with his wicked friend in a lake of fire; and he saw that the most Holy Virgin moved to compassion, extended her hand to him, withdrew him from the fire, and advised him to ask pardon of Jesus Christ, Who seemed to forgive him on account of the prayers of His Mother. After the vision, Bartholomew heard that his companion was dead, having been shot;---and he thus knew that what he had seen was true. He then renounced the world, and entered the Order of Capuchins, where he led a most austere life, and died with the reputation of sanctity. 

Prayer

  O afflicted Virgin! O soul great in virtue but great also in sorrow, for the one and the other took their rise in that immense love with which, thy heart was inflamed towards God, for thou couldst love Him alone; ah, Mother, pity me, for instead of loving God I have greatly offended Him. Thy sorrows encourage me to hope for pardon. But this is not enough; I wish to love my Lord; and who can better obtain me this love than thou, who art the Mother of fair love? Ah, Mary, thou comfortest all; console me also. Amen.

By Saint Alphonsus de Liguori
Photo Credit Waiting for the Word

The Death of Jesus on the Cross

The Death of Jesus on the Cross

We have now to witness a new kind of Martyrdom---a Mother condemned to see an innocent Son, and One Whom she loves with the whole affection of her soul, cruelly tormented and put to death before her own eyes. 

There stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother. (John 19:25) St. John believed that in these words he had said enough of Mary's Martyrdom. Consider her at the foot of the Cross in the presence of her dying Son, and then see if there be a sorrow like unto her sorrow. Let us remain for awhile this day on Calvary, and consider the fifth sword which, in the death of Jesus, transfixed the heart of Mary. 

As soon as our agonized Redeemer had reached the Mount of Calvary, the executioners stripped Him of His clothes, and piercing His hands and feet "not with sharp, but with blunt nails," as St. Bernard says, to torment Him more, they fastened Him on the Cross. Having crucified Him, they planted the Cross, and thus left Him to die. The executioners left Him; but not so Mary. She then drew nearer to the Cross, to be present at His death: "I did not leave Him" (thus the Blessed Virgin revealed to St. Bridget), "but stood nearer to the Cross."

"But what did it avail thee, O Lady," says St. Bonaventure, "to go to Calvary, and see this Son expire? Shame should have prevented thee; for His disgrace was thine, since thou wert His Mother. At least, horror of witnessing such a crime as the crucifixion of a God by His Own creatures should have prevented thee from going there." But the same Saint answers, "Ah, thy heart did not then think of its own sorrows, but of the sufferings and death of thy dear Son," and therefore thou wouldst thyself be present, at least to compassionate Him. "Ah, true Mother," says the Abbot William, "most loving Mother, whom not even the fear of death could separate from thy beloved Son!"

But, O God, what a cruel sight was it there to behold this Son in agony on the Cross, and at its foot this Mother in agony, suffering all the torments endured by her Son! Listen to the words in which Mary revealed to St. Bridget the sorrowful state in which she saw her dying Son on the Cross: "My dear Jesus was breathless, exhausted, and in His last agony on the Cross; His eyes were sunk, half closed, and lifeless; His lips hanging, and His mouth open; His cheeks hollow and drawn in; His face elongated, His nose sharp, His countenance sad; His head had fallen on His breast, His hair was black with Blood, His stomach collapsed, His arms and legs stiff, and His whole body covered with wounds and Blood." 

All these sufferings of Jesus were also those of Mary; "Every torture inflicted on the body of Jesus," says St. Jerome, "was a wound in the heart of the Mother." "Whoever then was present on the Mount of Calvary," says St. John Chrysostom, "might see two altars, on which two great sacrifices were consummated; the one in the body of Jesus, the other in the heart of Mary." Nay, better still may we say with St. Bonaventure, "there was but one altar---that of the Cross of the Son, on which, together with His Divine Lamb, the victim, the Mother was also sacrificed;" therefore the Saint asks this Mother, "O Lady, where art thou? Near the Cross? Nay, rather, thou art on the Cross, crucified, sacrificing thyself with thy Son." St. Augustine assures us of the same thing: "The Cross and nails of the Son were, also those of His Mother; with Christ crucified the Mother was also crucified." Yes; for, as St. Bernard says, "Love inflicted on the heart of Mary the tortures caused by nails in the body of Jesus." So much so, that, as St. Bernardine writes, "At the same time that the Son sacrificed His body, the Mother sacrificed her soul." Mothers ordinarily fly from the presence of their dying children; but when a mother is obliged to witness, such a scene, she procures all possible relief for her child; she arranges his bed, that he may be more at ease; she administers refreshments to him; and thus the poor mother soothes her own grief. Ah, most afflicted of all Mothers! O Mary, thou hast to witness the agony of thy dying Jesus; but thou canst administer Him no relief. Mary heard her Son exclaim, I thirst, but she could not even give Him a drop of water to refresh Him in that great thirst. She could only say, as St. Vincent Ferrer remarks, "My Son, I have only the water of tears." She saw that on that bed of torture her Son, suspended by three nails, could find no repose; she would have clasped Him in her arms to give Him relief, or that at least He might there have expired; but she could not. "In vain," says St. Bernard, "did she extend her arms; they sank back empty on her breast." She beheld that poor Son, Who in His sea of grief sought consolation, as it was foretold by the prophet, but in vain: I have trodden the winepress alone; I looked about and there was none to help; I sought, and there was none to give aid. [Is. lxiii. 3] But who amongst men would console Him, since all were enemies? Even on the Cross He was taunted and blasphemed on all sides: And they that passed by, blasphemed Him, wagging their heads. [Matt. xxvii. 39] Some said to His face, If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the Cross." Others, He saved others, Himself He cannot save. Again, If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the Cross. Our Blessed Lady herself said to St. Bridget, "I heard some say that my Son was a thief; others, that He was an impostor; others, that no one deserved death more than He did; and every word was a new sword of grief to my heart." 

But that which the most increased the sorrows which Mary endured through compassion for her Son, was hearing Him complain on the Cross that even His Eternal Father had abandoned Him: My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? [Matt. xxvii. 46] Words which the Divine Mother told the same St. Bridget could never, during her whole life, depart from her mind. So that the afflicted Mother saw her Jesus suffering on every side; she desired to comfort Him, but could not. 

That which grieved her the most was to see that she herself, by her presence and sorrow, increased the sufferings of her Son. "The grief," says St. Bernard," which filled Mary's heart, as a torrent flowed into and embittered the heart of Jesus."  "So much so," says the same Saint, "that Jesus on the Cross suffered more from compassion for His Mother than from His Own torments." He thus speaks in the name of our Blessed Lady: "I stood with my eyes fixed on Him, and His on me, and He grieved more for me than for Himself." And then, speaking of Mary beside her dying Son, he says, "that she lived dying without being able to die." Near the Cross of Christ His Mother stood half-dead; she spoke not; dying she lived, and living she died; nor could she die, for death was her very life." 

Passino writes that Jesus Christ Himself one day, speaking to blessed Baptista Varani of Camerino, assured her that when on the Cross, so great was His affliction at seeing His Mother at His feet in so bitter an anguish, that compassion for her caused Him to die without consolation; so much so, that the Blessed Baptista, being supernaturally enlightened as to the greatness of this suffering of Jesus, exclaimed, "O Lord, tell me no more of this Thy sorrow, for I can no longer bear it." 

"All," says Simon of Cassia, "who then saw this Mother silent, and not uttering a complaint in the midst of so great suffering, were filled with astonishment." But if Mary's lips were silent, her heart was not so, for she incessantly offered the life of her Son to the Divine justice for our salvation. Therefore, we know that by the merits of her dolors she cooperated in our birth to the life of grace; and hence we are the children of her sorrows. "Christ," says Lanspergius, "was pleased that she, the cooperatress in our redemption, and whom He had determined to give us for our Mother, should be there present; for it was at the foot of the Cross that she was to bring us, her children, forth." If any consolation entered that sea of bitterness, the heart of Mary, the only one was this, that she knew that by her sorrows she was leading us to eternal salvation, as Jesus Himself revealed to St. Bridget: "My Mother Mary, on account of her compassion and love, was made the Mother of all in Heaven and on earth." And indeed these were the last words with which Jesus bid her farewell before His death: this was His last recommendation, leaving us to her for her children in the person of St. John: Woman, behold thy son. [John xix. 26] From that time Mary began to perform this good office of a mother for us; for St. Peter Damian attests, "that by the prayers of Mary, who stood between the Cross of the good thief and that of her Son, the thief was converted and saved, and thereby she repaid a former service." For, as other authors also relate, this thief had been kind to Jesus and Mary on their journey to Egypt; and this same office the Blessed Virgin has ever continued, and still continues, to perform. 

EXAMPLE

Blessed Joachim Piccolomini had always a most tender devotion for Mary, and from his childhood was in the habit of visiting an image of our Blessed Lady of Sorrows, which was in the neighboring church, three times a day; and on Saturdays, in her honor, he abstained from all food; and in addition to this he always rose at midnight to meditate on her dolors. But let us see how abundantly this good Mother recompensed him. In the first place, when he was a young man she appeared to him and desired him to embrace the Order of the Servites and this the holy young man did. Again, in the latter years of his life she appeared to him with two crowns in her hands: the one was composed of rubies, and this was to reward him for his compassion for her sorrows; the other of pearls, as a recompense for his virginity, which he vowed in her honor. Shortly before his death she once more appeared to him; and then the Saint begged, as a favor, that he might die on the same day on which Jesus Christ had expired. Our Blessed Lady immediately gratified him, saying: "It is well: prepare thyself; for tomorrow, Good Friday, thou shalt die suddenly as thou desirest; tomorrow thou shalt be with me in Heaven." And so it was; for the next day, during the singing of the Passion according to St. John, at the words, Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother, he fell into the last struggles of death; and at the words, He bowed down His head and expired, the Saint also breathed his last; and in the same moment the whole church was filled with an extraordinary light and most delicious perfume! 

Prayer

Ah, Mother, the most sorrowful of all mothers, thy son is, then, dead; that Son so amiable, and Who loved thee so much! Weep, then, for thou hast reason to weep. Who can ever console thee? The thought alone that Jesus by His death conquered Hell, opened Heaven until then closed to men, and gained so many souls, can console thee. From that throne of the Cross He will reign in so many hearts, which, conquered by His love, will serve Him with love. Disdain not, in the mean time, O my Mother, to keep me near thee, to weep with thee, since I have so much reason to weep for the crimes by which I have offended Him. Ah, Mother of Mercy, I hope, first, through the death of my Redeemer, and then through thy sorrows, to obtain pardon and eternal salvation. Amen

By Saint Alphonsus de Ligouri
Photo Credit Waiting for the Word